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Donelson Christian Academy has rebuilt from a natural disaster before.

Now, school officials are vowing to do it again.

A tornado on March 3 ripped through the school's campus and the surrounding Stanford Estates neighborhood, hitting the area especially hard and leaving large portions of its buildings in rubble.

It was the second time DCA took a big hit from a historic weather event. The May 2010 flood covered the campus and left four feet of water inside its primary school building.

But DCA's comeback began almost immediately on the strength of more than 11,000 volunteer hours so far, giving school officials hope that classes and campus activities can resume in time to start of the 2020-2021 academic year.

Donelson Christian Academy Headmaster Keith Singer in the school gym being used as a storage area on April 15, 2020, after the school was hit by a tornado on March 3, 2020. Andy Humbles / The Tennessean

Destruction of homes and the volunteers working to clear debris can be seen across what used to be a sports field at Donelson Christian Academy in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, March 5, 2020. Henry Taylor/The Leaf-Chronicle

A Servpro employee walks past a makeshift light in the gymnasium to bring debris to a disposal location at Donelson Christian Academy in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, March 5, 2020. Henry Taylor/The Leaf-Chronicle

Servpro employees clean up a classroom that had one of it’s walls torn off during the tornado at Donelson Christian Academy in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, March 5, 2020. Henry Taylor/The Leaf-Chronicle

Volunteers walk boxes of teachers belonging’s and essential supplies down the stairwell where they will take them to a temporary location for the school at Donelson Christian Academy in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, March 5, 2020. Henry Taylor/The Leaf-Chronicle

Headmaster Keith Singer looks out over the damage in the parking lot and on the roof while volunteers help clean up at Donelson Christian Academy in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, March 5, 2020. Henry Taylor/The Leaf-Chronicle

A door’s glass is shattered looking down the hallway from a middle school wing towards the elementary school where multiple classrooms were destroyed at Donelson Christian Academy in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, March 5, 2020. Henry Taylor/The Leaf-Chronicle

A file cabinet was among the debris scattered across the parking lot of Donelson Christian Academy after a deadly tornado plowed through Nashville in the early morning hours of Tuesday, March 3, 2020. Shelley Mays / The Tennessean

Rubble and debris was scattered across the parking lot at Donelson Christian Academy after a deadly tornado plowed through Nashville in the early morning hours of Tuesday, March 3, 2020. Shelley Mays / The Tennessean

DCA headmaster Keith Singer said he can look back at the flood and how the school recovered.

"We call it the flood of blessings now," Singer said. "The exciting thing for us is this is a huge opportunity.”

DCA has about 820 students from pre-school through 12th grade.

The goal is for middle and high school classes, grades 6-12, to be on campus in August with the elementary age students likely at designated sites off-campus to begin the school year as the rebuild continues, Singer said.

The portion of the school's primary building where the majority of its middle and high school classes are held at least avoided major structural damage, Singer said.

DCA's main high school gymnasium, cafeteria and athletic wing avoided major harm as well. DCA, which traditionally has a strong athletic program, also plans to host a full schedule of sports events as well during the fall semester.

The first day of school is Aug. 6.

The Donelson Christian Academy on March 14, 2020, after a tornado hit the campus on March 3, 2020.(Photo: Andy Humbles / The Tennessean)

“Oh, I think that will be one of the happiest days in a lot of people’s lives,” DCA parent and volunteer coordinator Courtney Brauss said. “I think it will definitely be a day we see God and all the work that happened, the relationships and the people. It will be an unforgettable day for sure.”

Tornado damage

There is plenty of damage to deal with that includes:

The elementary school wing of the main school building for pre-K through second-grade students, one third-grade class and offices, had to be demolished and is now down to its foundation.

The middle section second floor of the main building that included the library and some middle school classrooms.

Three modular buildings for pre-school students were leveled — one landed two roads away.

There is also roof damage throughout the main building that will require replacement, and multiple other repairs are needed throughout the campus. Singer estimated 75 trees came down on campus with bent poles and out-building damage still evident.

There was both the initial "shock and then heartbreak," Brauss described, along with thankfulness the tornado hit overnight when classes and activities were not being held.

"It immediately turned into what we had to do as a community," Brauss said.

The cleanup involved 100-150 volunteers per day for several weeks that included parents, students and staff alongside groups that came from 26 states, Brauss said.

Donelson Christian Academy Headmaster Keith Singer in the school gym being used as a storage area on April 15, 2020, after the school was hit by a tornado on March 3, 2020.(Photo: Andy Humbles / The Tennessean)

Plan is to make building better

DCA wants the rebuild to add second-floor space in the main building to include a permanent performing arts area and additional space so modular buildings won't be necessary.

"Two things for our campus that have been questions for a long time — will we ever get out of the modular buildings and will we ever get a performing arts space?" Singer said.

The rebuild is expected to involve a capital campaign for the additions to supplement the insurance settlement still in progress, Singer said. Details on the fundraising campaign are still being finalized, Singer said.

The 2010 flood that ultimately resulted in improvements with a new first floor and better space allocation had a huge fundraising effort.

“We have families who are so grounded in relying upon their faith who see this not as a setback, but as an opportunity to see God do something really big in our community and we saw that in the flood,” DCA parent Jeffrey Smith said. “We’re already seeing that with the tornado.”